The Babadook

2014

93min

98%

6.8
/ 10

Losing her husband while on the way to give birth to their son Samuel, Amelia struggles to live her life as a single mom to their only child. Samuel’s consistent fear of monsters causes more difficulties and strains Amelia’s relationship with her friends. They learn of a creature called the Babadook that resides in the dark areas around their house after reading a strange book. Nightmarish experiences plague Amelia and her son, as she tries desperately to destroy the book that unleashed the horror upon them.

Where to watch The Babadook online

rentstarting at $2.99

buystarting at $12.99

Trailers and gallery

movie facts

In the Hebrew language, ba-ba-dook means 'he is coming for sure', which makes this movie even more spooky. The appearance of the creature in the film was caused by Amelia’s repression of her grief and denial of the death of her husband. These sad feelings were what drove the Babadook even more into her life, growing stronger and more dangerous every time Amelia continues to deny her true feelings to her friends and family. Before the release of her supernatural horror film, director Jennifer Kent was originally an actor before pursuing a career as a director. She came onto the film Dogville in order to learn more on how to direct. The film depicts scenes of a child going through verbal abuse. So instead of the child actor being put through it, the director had an adult stand-in on their knees for Essie Davis’s character, Amelia, to yell at.

Comments

about the movie

The Babadook is Jennifer Kent’s directorial debut into the supernatural psychological horror drama genre. Starring Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, and Ben Winspear, the film was based on Kent’s 2005 short film titled Monster. Despite its weak commercial success in Australia, its strong performance at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival earned it more attention, raking in positive reviews and box office sales of $7.5 million.